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January 29, 2018 Monday Night RAW
The January 29, 2018 Edition of RAW is a Professional wrestling television show of the WWE's RAW brand, which took place on January 29, 2018 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This was the Raw after Royal Rumble. Episode summary Sasha Banks confronted Asuka Ronda Rousey may have left Royal Rumble with the headlines, but Women’s Royal Rumble Match winner Asuka departed the event with an immediate claim to the future. That said, The Empress of Tomorrow’s Road to WrestleMania just hit its first unexpected turn. Moments after congratulating Asuka on her big win the previous evening, Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon suggested the undefeated Superstar hold off on picking which Women’s Champion she would challenge at WrestleMania, as Alexa Bliss would be defending her Raw Women’s Title in the first-ever Women’s Elimination Chamber Match and might not even be champion at The Show of Shows. The Empress of Tomorrow didn’t give any indication which way she was leaning, but she made it clear that nobody was ready for her. Sasha Banks wasn’t about to let Asuka have the moment to herself, however. The iron woman of the Women’s Royal Rumble Match crashed the moment with a statement of her own. Not only was she ready for Asuka, she was ready for her tonight. And we're off. Asuka vs Sasha Banks Was Sasha Banks ready for Asuka? Yes. But she wasn’t ready enough. Looking to make some history of her own after falling short in the Women's Royal Rumble Match, The Boss put up a hellacious fight against The Empress of Tomorrow with the goal of snapping Asuka’s storied two-and-a-half-year undefeated streak. She looked like she might be up to the task, too, thanks to a deceptively canny strategy where she goaded Asuka into a fearsome rally, only to trap her in a pair of modified Bank Statements. Asuka answered with some truly remarkable brutality — a kick to an airborne Banks dropped The Boss like a stone mid-suicide dive — and The Boss still hung tight, ramming her illustrious foe with a flying knee to the face and dodging a hip attack that sent Asuka tumbling to the outside. She even locked in the full-force Bank Statement, but Asuka slithered out of the hold and constricted Banks in the Asuka Lock to force a tapout and bring the match to a close. History eludes Banks again as Asuka marches to WrestleMania, but perhaps The Boss will settle for an instant classic. Cesaro & Sheamus vs Titus Worldwide Cesaro & Sheamus may again be Raw Tag Team Champions, but Titus Worldwide had their number almost every step of the way on their march back to the top. Alas, a hat trick against The Bar was not to be. This isn’t to say they didn’t bring their A-game in the long-awaited opportunity. Titus O’Neil tossed his opponents to and fro like bales of hay, while Apollo Crews, who proved to be the difference-maker in their first two meetings, very nearly won his team the match again. He began the match with a lightning-fast rollup attempt on Sheamus and returned to spell an exhausted O’Neil near the end. Crews unleashed the full scope of his talents against The Bar, dishing out Standing Shooting Star Presses to both the tag team champions and flying around the ring with reckless abandon. It briefly seemed he would take advantage of a mad scramble when he reversed a Cesaro crossbody into a pinfall attempt, but an ill-fated charge in the corner ended in a collision with the ring post. The Bar’s White Noise-middle-rope DDT combo put Titus Worldwide’s Cinderella story to a close, though it's safe to say they may well write another chapter down the line. Results * Singles Match: Asuka defeated Sasha Banks by submission * Tag Team match for the WWE Raw Tag Team Championships: The Bar (Sheamus & Cesaro) © defeated Titus Worldwide (Titus O'Neil & Apollo Crews) (w/ Dana Brooke) Other on-screen talent * Ring announcer: JoJo * Interviewers: Charly Caruso & Renee Young Media Category:2018 television episodes Category:RAW episodes Category:Episodes featuring Stephanie McMahon Category:Asuka Category:Episodes featuring Sasha Banks Category:Dana Brooke Category:Episodes featuring JoJo Category:Episodes featuring Charly Caruso Category:Episodes featuring Renee Young Category:WWE television episodes